Hot Topics:

Ex-FSU student cleared in attack

Salah Barhoum, now a student at Fitchburg State University, shares his story of being wrongly identified as the Boston Marathon bomber on the cover of the New York Post in 2013. SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE FILE PHOTO / ASHLEY GREEN

FITCHBURG -- The former Fitchburg State University student who was wrongfully identified as a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing was found not guilty of indecent assault and battery after being accused of sexually assaulting a woman he met online in November 2015.

The decision in the court case involving Salaheddin Barhoum, 21, of Revere, was reached by Fitchburg District Court Judge Robert Pellegrini after a bench trial Wednesday.

The alleged assault occurred when the woman, a Franklin Pierce University student, visited FSU on Nov. 7, 2015, to meet Barhoum, according to an FSU campus police investigation.

At some point during the night, according to the FSU investigation, the woman and Barhoum went to his dorm room to retrieve a jacket and while they were alone, the woman alleged Barhoum sexually assaulted her.

Fitchburg State police officials were made aware of the assault on Nov. 16, 2015 after being contacted by the Franklin Pierce University's director of public safety.

Originally, Maureen Sturgis, the director of public safety, told Fitchburg State police Sgt. Christopher Bouchard the woman did not want to "pursue a criminal investigation" but wanted the incident reported to the university.

The details of Bouchard's investigation was dated Jan. 28, 2016, which was 78 days after Sturgis initially contacted the FSU police department.

On Jan. 29, 2016, Bouchard filed an application with Fitchburg District Court seeking an arrest warrant for Barhoum. A warrant was issued on March 2.

Advertisement

Barhoum's attorney, Michael Dlott, filed a motion to dismiss the case last August, alleging that exculpatory evidence of a video recording of Barhoum and the woman immediately before and after the alleged assault was "negligently or intentionally" erased by an Fitchburg State Police Department officer, according to Dlott's motion.

According to a written description by police of the video recording, on multiple occasions, while walking from the dorm toward a vehicle, Barhoum and the woman made body contact "consistent with hugging and/or kissing."

In his motion, Dlott said the main defense of the case would be consent.

The motion was denied in December by Fitchburg District Court Judge Christopher LoConto.

On April 18, 2013, Barhoum and another man were identified on the front page of the New York Post as suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing.

Barhoum eventually settled a defamation suit against the Post. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Welcome to your discussion forum: Sign in with a Disqus account or your social networking account for your comment to be posted immediately, provided it meets the guidelines. (READ HOW.)
Comments made here are the sole responsibility of the person posting them; these comments do not reflect the opinion of The Sun. So keep it civil.